Kiss From a Rose
by Jayd Roze
Summary: What does it feel like?" Orihime repeated, pointing at the hole in Grimmjow's stomach. "Doesn't it feel like a piece of you is missing?" GrimmHime one-shot. Rated for Grimmjow's bad language. Please review.


**Disclaimer:** Bleach and all characters belong to Kubo Tite.

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"What does it feel like?"

Grimmjow looked with mild disdain at the orange-haired girl sitting cross-legged opposite him on the floor of her cell. He was convinced that she was too curious for her own good, and sometimes her incessant questioning got on his nerves. Still, he found himself making daily visits to Orihime's chambers, mostly because the company was far better than any of the other self-absorbed espada – or fraccion – could provide.

"What?" Grimmjow leaned back on the palms of his hands, tilting his head slightly.

"What does it feel like?" Orihime repeated, pointing at the hole in Grimmjow's stomach. She leaned in a little closer, and then hesitated. "May I...?" He offered no verbal response save for an indiscernible grunt, but maintained his non-threatening demeanor. That usually translated to a "tch, whatever," and meant "yeah, go ahead. I don't give a shit."

Orihime scooted closer and tentatively touched Grimmjow's muscular stomach. The edges of the hole looked sharp, but they were surprisingly fleshy and firm. Her hand ventured further in, touching and probing at the inside of the missing piece. Its walls were smooth and cool to the touch, almost leather-like. Orihime continued to explore with child-like wonder while Grimmjow watched her with a slight frown.

"Whadya mean what does it feel like?" He scratched at the mess of blue hair on his head, and jolted slightly as she planted a hand on his knee and plunged her arm all the way through the hole. Glancing over his shoulder, he could see her fingers wiggling on the other side. _Stupid bitch._ Anyone else that would attempt to get nearly as close would have been vaporized with a cero without a second thought. But Orihime was different. She was warm, caring, mostly harmless, and didn't care that Grimmjow was a heartless killing machine of a beast whose sole purpose of his miserable existence was to kill and destroy for Aizen-sama.

"Doesn't it feel like a piece of you is missing?" Satisfied with the extent of her physical findings, Orihime removed her arm from the hole (much to the relief of Grimmjow's annoyance), and folded her hands politely in her lap.

"Ain't never been any other way." Grimmjow shrugged nonchalantly. That wasn't entirely true. There was a time when he was still alive... it was so very long ago, and the memories eluded him. It was like trying to see something out of the corner of his eye that disappeared when he looked directly at it. He let out an annoyed sigh.

"But, what about your intestines? Where do they go?" Orihime leaned forward to peer through the hole. "And your spine, how is it complete?" Orihime appeared absolutely perplexed, and it seemed like the more he answered her questions, the less she seemed to understand. This would never end. Leaving her to her own devices wouldn't help either, because she'd only cook up another plethora of inane questions to ask him the next time he came around.

"Intestines?" Grimmjow raised a questioning eyebrow, somewhat disgusted. "Look, I don't know nothin' about hollow anatomy, woman. You're best off asking Szayel about that shit." He reduced himself to a reclining position, and turned so as to lay his head in Orihime's lap. She had this funny habit of playing with his hair, and as annoying as it was, it felt awfully nice. There was a spot somewhere behind his left ear that when she hit it, his inner beast would purr. It was the closest thing to that silly emotion of happiness that Grimmjow had ever felt.

"All I know," He continued, staring up at the ceiling, "is that when I get cut, I bleed. When I get tired, I rest. When I get hungry, I eat, and no fucking thing ever seems to fill the empty feeling." Like clockwork, Orihime's small hands entangled themselves in Grimmjow's thick turquoise locks, pulling and twirling and combing. The warmth from her fingertips permeated his scalp, and he felt peaceful. There were a few minutes of silence, where he was momentarily spared from Orihime's eternal wonderment, and he was able to bask in her attention, closing his eyelids.

It was only in her presence that his inner beast would slow its restless pacing; sometimes it would even stop and relax a little bit. This was one of those sometimes. The panther was sprawled comfortably out on its back, with its head laid in the human woman's lap. She scratched behind its ears, in the very spot that cued the low, happy rumble.

Orihime giggled. "You make some funny sounds, Grimmjow-sama."

Grimmjow tensed up and gritted his teeth sorely, almost embarrassed for the fact he'd been caught purring out loud. _If it had been anyone else…_He eased as Orihime ran her fingers along his shoulders, and the smoldering thought was lost. Orihime was always an exception for his predatory instincts.

One of her hands moved down to his chest, and lightly traced at the jagged scar that lined his torso. It had a rougher texture than the rest of his skin, but didn't quite feel like a scar should.

"Does it hurt?" She asked absently, feeling idly along the edges of it. Grimmjow glanced up at her face, half-expecting her to blurt out that she was kidding. There was no sign of amusement on her expression.

"It's a fucking scar." He replied matter-of-factly, bristling slightly. A scar was a scar, and it caused him no physical pain. The hurt was in his ego, his pride, it was the person who gave him that brand that caused him so much animosity. Kurosaki Ichigo, that bratty human to whom Orihime's heart hopelessly belonged. Deep inside, somewhere, Grimmjow may have felt a pang of jealousy. He'd never admit it, though, and would thoroughly maim anyone who would even insinuate that Grimmjow held such petty feelings.

"I could heal it for you, if you'd like, Grimmjow-sama." As she started to pull her hand away from his chest, he grabbed her wrist.

"No."

"W-why not?" Orihime swallowed thickly. "It's a little, you know, unsightly, and you don't seem to like it very much…"

"Just shut up, woman." Orihime abruptly closed her mouth. "It's a fucking battle scar, and I'll wear it proudly." Considering Grimmjow's increasingly spiky attitude, Orihime felt it would be best to drop the subject of the scar. It wasn't _that_ unsightly. If he liked it enough to keep it, then she would like it as well. He released her wrist, and she returned to playing with his hair. He felt his eye twitch with ire as she started to idly braid a tiny section. Still, any moment in which Orihime was not asking a question was a moment to be thankful for, and he would make sure she took the braid out before he left. He didn't need to be questioned about it.

"Grimmjow-sama?"

"What?" His response was heavy with annoyance. Orihime paused thoughtfully, choosing her words carefully.

"Have you ever kissed anyone?"

"_Kissed_?" Grimmjow spat, looking up at Orihime with utter repugnance. "You mean that messy thing humans do with their mouths? Fuck no. Why the hell would I do some shit like that?"

"It's not so messy. It's kind of nice, actually." Orihime smiled slightly, staring off at nothing in particular. Maybe reveling in a memory of someone else kissing her. Grimmjow thought about it for a moment, and couldn't for the life of him figure how an act so repulsive-looking could be anything near nice. Mouths were meant for eating, for biting, for tearing flesh from the bone. Not for fondling another mouth.

"Whatever you say, woman." Grimmjow let out an exasperated sigh and folded his hands over his stomach. Orihime bit her lip.

"Would you like me to… to show you, Grimmjow-sama?" She offered shyly, blushing. "I would like to kiss you… i-if you don't mind."

Grimmjow's first reaction was to tell her to go fuck herself, and then slap her around a bit for good measure. Something inside hindered his reflex, and he found himself shrugging and uttering a very haughty "tch, whatever." If it was as gross as he thought it would be, he could just cuff the bitch and be done with it. Locks of orange framed his face and shoulders as she leaned over him, and she gently touched her lips to his.

It was soft, her mouth, and she wasn't slobbering all over his face as he wrongly expected. He felt her lips purse gently against his, and he found himself willingly returning the gesture. Maybe this kissing thing wasn't so bad at all. His hand reached up to cup her face, finding that he was hungry for more of her sweet, supple lips. They were as soft and careful as the rest of her personality, and kissing them seemed to warm something inside of him. The panther purred, and the void in the pit of his stomach seemed to ease.

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"You sure seem to visit that woman quite a bit, Grimmjow."

"Shut yer face, Ulquiorra." He stalked past the fourth espada, glaring daggers. Orihime's chamber was just up the hall, and he knew Ulquiorra had just fed her. The irritating pasty-pale fourth espada wouldn't be back this way for quite some time. And he didn't give enough of a shit about Grimmjow or Orihime to stick around and spy.

"May I ask what your newfound fascination with the woman is?"

Grimmjow stopped for a moment, and stared blankly at Ulquiorra. An elaborate, well-worded answer formed somewhere in the back of his brain. "Blow me, asshole."

If Ulquiorra, or any of the other espada, or worse yet Aizen-sama, found out about his reason… he couldn't even imagine what would happen. It wasn't important right now. What was important was making sure that his trysts remained secret. Eventually he would be found out, but he would worry about it when the time came.

Ulquiorra turned to leave, and Grimmjow waited until he was out of sight to make his way to his sanctuary. It was the place where the darkness seemed a little less heavy, and the void, a little less empty.

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**Author's note:** This is my first GrimmHime story. I started writing in a little GrimmHime in one of my other stories, and decided that I really liked the pairing a lot. Hope you all enjoy this one-shot as much as I enjoyed writing it. It made me feel warm and fuzzy inside. :)

Please review! :3


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